Sound direction indicator



Dm. 23, 94. M, w, TALCOTT 2,267,480

SOUND y DIRECTION INDICATOR Filed June 7, les

Patented Dec. 23, 1941 UNHTED STATES vPATENT .OFFICE 2,267,480 SOUNDDIRECTION INDICATOR Mancel W. Talcott, Providence, R. I.

Application June 7, 1939, Serial No. 277,747

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for determining the direction of anaudible sound and is primarily for use on boats or aeroplanes.

One of the objects of this invention is to pick up and amplify audiblesounds in connection with the determination of the direction from whichthe sounds are approaching.

Another object of the invention is, by the use of some amplifying means,to increase the intensity of the audible sounds reaching the operator sothat `these sounds may be detected at a greater distance and withsuflicient accuracy so that the direction from which they emanate may belocated.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described, andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is an elevation of a yacht showing my improved device as mountedin position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a portion of a navigating table inthe pilot house.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View illustrating a portion of the device.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic lay-out of the wiring for the invention.

Many small boats and yachts without the aid of a radio direction nder infoggy Weather, or weather where the visibility is of limited extent,rely largely upon fog horns, bells and other audible sounds which areplaced at the entrance to harbors as aids to navigation for the entry insafety of such harbors or navigable rivers. Under certain conditions itis very difficult to pick up an audible sound in a manner which willenable one to determine the direction from which it emanates. Should thenavigator of such craft be to the Windward of such an audible sound, hemay approach very close to the point from which it emanates withoutbeing able to detect with his ear the source of the sound. Under certainfog conditions a sound may seem to come from more than one direction,and in order to assist the navigation of small as well as larger craft,I have provided a megaphone which may be swung about thru a suitable arcand which, when pointed at the source from which the sound emanates,will pick this sound up louder than when pointed in any other direction,and in order that the sound picked up by this megaphone may betransmitted to the navigator with the desirable intensity, I havemounted a microphone within this megaphone or pick-up device and haveamplified the sound picked up by the microphone in the transmission toear phones used by the navigator and I have arranged for a convenienthandle for operation in the direction where the megaphone is pointed sothat the navigator may easily and quickly, within the pilot house and ata location close by the steering wheel, pick up the sound and by movingthe handle determine the direction in which it is loudest, therebydetermining its location, and the following is a more detaileddescription of the present embodiment of this invention, illustratingthe preferred means by which these advantageous results may beaccomplished.

With reference to the drawing, I9 designates generally a yacht having apilot house II and navigating table I2. A tube or hollow rod I3 isrotatably positioned to extend from the navigating table thru the roofof the house as at I4 with a pick-up device I5 mounted at its upper end.

This pick-up device comprises essentially a megaphone I6 which issecured in a bracket I'I having a suitable arm support I3 formaintaining it in a desired position and which bracket is telescopedoverthe end of the tube I3 as at I9. Within this megaphone I have provided amicrophone 20 or electrically operated device, for picking up audiblesounds, which is connected by wires 2| extending downwardly thru thetube I3 and into the casing 22 located on the navigating table I2. Adial 23 is mounted upon this casing (see Fig. 4), while a pointer 24 isXed upon the tube by set screw 25 to move over the dial as the tube I3is rotated by means of handle 26 which is secured in position by setscrew 2l. The wires 2| are connected to a suitable amplifying unithooked up with batteries in the casing 22 so as to amplify the sound andtransmit it to ear phones designated generally 2'I which may be placedupon the head of the operator so that the sound which is picked up bythe megaphone and transmitted by the microphone'and electric circuit tothe ear phones may be heard. A suitable control 28 is provided to adjustthe volume of the amplified sound.

With the above arrangement provided the electrical hook-up may bevariously arranged. While the electrical hook-up here shown is not partof the invention for the sake of complete disclosure of an operativestructure I have illustrated diagrammatically the hook-up provided, thesupply of power being from any source of Voltage available 35, groundedas at 36. In order to provide the voltage desired, a transformer 31 isprovided in the hook-up which is supplied by means of a Vibrator 38 withan intermittent current to step up suciently the voltage in the inducedcircuit 39 to provide the desired voltage such as about 250 volts at theterminal 4i). From this terminal .two stages 4| and 42 of audioamplification are provided, the high voltage being supplied to the plate43 while the lower Voltage is supplied to grids 44 thru resistances 45.The iilaments 46 are each supplied from a low Voltage of six volts fromthe battery 35. The receiving circuit 41 of the microphone is suppliedby baty tery 48 and a fluctuating current by reason of the usualtransmitter is provided in this circuit to be supplied thru thetransformer 49 to the ampliiication circuit and there picked up by thephone receiver circuit 50 for transmission to the ears of the observer.This circuit may, of course, be varied within the realm of electricalknowledge.

The navigator may remain within the pilot house with the ear phones 21placed upon his head and over his ears in a position where he can reachhandle 26. As he is approaching an audible signal such as a horn, a bellbuoy, or gong which is struck by clappers due to the rocking of the buoyby the waves, .he may turn the handle 26, and the pick-up device l5 withit, until he hears the audible signal loudest. He will then know bymeans of the finder 24 and dial 23 the direction from which the soundcomes the loudest and knows that this is the direction of the audiblesignal and the ships course may be altered if necessary, with referenceto the location of this definite aid to navigation.

A device of this character which, by reason of the ear phones, excludesall of the engine noises of the boat, permits one to hear only thatwhich he would hear if located outside of the pilot'house and whichamplifies the sound so picked up and enables a very deiinite location ofan aid to navigation with reference to the ship and a x of the line ofthe ships position, and is especially desirable for small yachts andpleasure craft where such expensive equipment as radio direction findersare not available for navigation purposes, and is also exceedinglydesirable for the entrance of small harbors and navigable rivers whereradio direction equipment is not intended for operation.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the constructionillustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve theprivilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the deviceis susceptible, the invention being deiined and limited only by theterms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for determining the direction of audible sound in air mediacomprising a casing having an electrical sound amplifier unit thereinand a bearing secured thereto, a tube journaled in said bearing torotate about its own axis, a handle xed to said tube for manuallyrotating the same, a graduated dial secured to said casing adjacent tosaid tube, a megaphone secured to the upper end of said tube to movetherewith to pick up the sound loudest when directed toward the sound, amicrophone in said megaphone, wires in said tube connecting saidmicrophone to said amplier, a receiver connected to said amplifier unit,and a pointer on said tube movable therewith and over said dial toindicate in which direction the megaphone is directed.

2. A device for determining the direction of audible sound in air media,a casing having an electrical sound amplier unit therein, a graduateddial secured to said casing and provided with a bearing thereon, a tubejournaled in said bearing to rotate about its own axis, a handle xed tosaid tube for manually rotating the same, a megaphone secured to theupper end of said tube to move therewith to pick up the sound loudestwhen directed toward the sound, a microphone in said megaphone, wires insaid tube connecting said microphone to said ampliiier, ear phonesconnected to said amplifier to receive the ampliiied sound, and apointer on said tube movable therewith and over said dial to indicate inwhich direction the megaphone is directed.

MANCEL W. TALCOTT.

